Sigh of the Streets
by his-little-troll
Summary: The Uchiha district has known nothing but blood and pain for so long. This is how Uchiha Sakura and Hatake Kakashi bring love into this corner of the world. Kaka/Saku


I can not seem to concentrate entirely on I Remember Pink. I'm about halfway done with my next chapter but so many different ideas keep popping into my head. Oh me good gosh.

Onward, dear masochist.

Sigh of the Street

_You're a regular decorated emergency,_

_The bruises and contusions will remind me,_

_What you did when you wake…_

Kakashi ate dinner with the couple in a tense silence. Sakura smiled prettily at him and Sasuke cut easily through his steak as though they were a perfectly fine little pair. Occasionally Sakura would open her mouth to say something before she quickly shut it with a glance over towards her husband. All of his team had retained their fragile relationship with him through many years. He had watched them change and mature and he had learned to love them in so many different ways. He had watched them grow strong, and he then had watched them subsequently grow weak. Which is why he always insisted on a weekly visit. It gave her a night's rest.

"So, how is the new missions coming along? Anything challenging being thrown your way?" It was a friendly enough question on the surface.

"Well, in a few days I'll be having to retrieve a nin for Sand that holds potential. The accused ran from his home after being convicted of murdering his team while they slept. He has a similar blood line weapon. If we can match any genes to the Sharingan we may know if these inherited traits may lead to mental instability in a select few." Sasuke's only love in life was his research. Once he had finally exacted revenge he had been consumed by the need to know why. It took an Uchiha to realize that many inherited tools such as the Sharingan had been defamed by traitors.

"Well, maybe you'll finally get some rest soon." He said the sentence with as much lazy indifference as he could muster. This did not stop the fork from pausing in the air above the half eaten steak across from him. "You look like you might collapse from exhaustion any time now."

He directed his concern at Sasuke, but kept his gaze steadily on the glittering green in front of him. Her eyes had widened considerably.

"I'll be fine. I get plenty of sleep on missions when I get to look out into the stars." It was only a note to the boy's conceit that he did not notice the battle of wills between his silver haired teacher and his wife. "There's no feeling like the rush of finding a new piece to the puzzle."

Kakashi watched as she winced and looked away. She knew, in the depths of her heart, that she was only Sasuke's baby machine. She hadn't had one yet and he hadn't asked, but she knew it was only a matter of time and so did he.

"Speaking of missions, how was your last little adventure?" It must have taken a lot for Sasuke to push the conversation away from himself. "I heard you had a close call with one of your team mates?"

He bit back to the retort that he only had three team mates. "Yeah, my medic was taken hostage for a good bit, but we got her back. I can't seem to find one as good as my favorite pink haired student." He followed the statement with a hollow laugh. Sakura was no longer allowed on missions. Or outside.

"Well, we can't have my wife dying out in the field now can we?" The previously warm eyes of Konoha's obsidian assassin had turned to stone. It always did when Kakashi mentioned allowing Sakura some freedom. "The Uchiha's won't be rebuilding themselves, after all." The knife clunked softly as he dropped it onto the table, and the jonin knew he would be escorted politely to the door. He could only hope he had not gotten Sakura into any trouble.

"Of course. It just seems a waste that such a fine medic and ninja should be wasted at home." He tried to make it sound less like the reprimand that it was. The stiffening of the boy's jaw told him that he had been unsuccessful.

"Well, I can see that everyone is done eating. Let me clean up." Sakura stood up happily, stacking the half full plates on top of each other. She paused only for a moment at Sasuke's half eaten meal before picking up the plate. She apparently thought that getting Kakashi home and safe was worth the punishment. Once she had dumped the dishes into the sink he knew it was time to leave.

He waited at the door for Sakura to see him off. He always did. And she never did come. That's how these dinners usually ended. A mutinous tongue had been his downfall this time. Normally he managed to keep his opinions to himself for her sake. Normally he could keep the anger from darkening his tone for the night, because he knew she depended on these evenings. Normally, he hadn't returned from a mission where the lack of Sakura had nearly gotten him and everyone else killed. The irritation still prickled at him as he stared at the kitchen entrance expectantly. It was quickly swallowed by guilt as Sasuke shut the door just a little too hard for him to be entirely calm. Maybe he was not angry enough to act on it. Maybe Sakura would be smart and hide.

Maybe she would not defend his quick tongue this time like she did every other time he opened his mouth in front of the Uchiha.

He walked away from the house at a quick pace, making sure he was well out of eyesight before he turned down the road that he knew would take him to a couple of broken down alleyways before it ended right into the Uchiha estate. He would walk deep into the district and take refuge in the house of their nonexistent neighbors and listen for the sounds of her agony to pierce the walls and his heart. He would save her, but she told him only too often that she did not want to be saved. She had vowed. She had promised. The same words would reverberate over and over from those soft lips. _Until death do you part, Sakura…_

He had missed the beginning from the sounds of it. Yelled insults echoed around the empty streets as he walked jauntily up the steps and swung the broken door open easily. The deep and angry voice of one pale skinned boy screamed muffled obscenities to his more than likely cowering wife. Kakashi may never have seen the physical abuse, but he knew that those words were not accompanied by a loving caress. Every ounce of physical restraint bound him to his silent seat. How often had he been her hero? Too many nights for him to count. He knew that though he couldn't hear it, a softer and lighter voice defended herself and her lover. It was what he hated most about sitting in his little corner of her world. He would imagine every little slap, kick, and punch that she took on his behalf.

She would vehemently deny any partiality to the 'old man'. Disbelief would heighten her voice as her faithful husband accused her time and time again of having a more complex relationship with her teacher than a simple student. The ringing in her ears would die away as she slowly turned her head back to her overbearing burden. Defiant eyes would glisten as she threatened to leave him if he hit her again. Blatant disregard would bring the mongrels paws to mar her pale face with another bright red welt. And the scene would deteriorate from there. Instead of jealousy being the cause of his anger, his anger would be the cause of his anger. And instead of slapping her when she said something particularly spiteful, he would just hit her to try to put that little spark of spunk out of her eyes. And this was only his imagined fight. He had no idea how bad it really was on the inside of that dark prison.

Only Sakura knew. Only Sakura knew that it was long before the yelling stopped that he hit her simply to try and snuff out her will. Only Sakura knew that long after Sasuke had locked himself in the bedroom in his desperate attempt to separate himself from the love he had never felt she sat on the floor and healed the worse of her bruises. Only Sakura knew that her only hold to hope was that he would die on one of his missions and never come home one glorious day. That she would be free once more. Only she knew that it was long after the scarred man had fallen asleep that she would slip out of bars of her prison and slink over to where Kakashi waited so patiently for her.

Kakashi had asked, in one of his many attempts to understand, if Sasuke drank. She had said no. He asked if Sasuke did drugs, and once again she would shake her head. He would ask her if he had any excuse and she would simply say he had a lot of anger. He had begged her to let him tell Naruto and she had been so upset that she sent him away that night. The idea was never brought it up again. In all her strength she would not say anything against her husband. It was something he both hated and respected about her.

He had once stood in front of Sasuke and tried to tell him that he knew. The words had died on his lips as Sakura stared back at him with fear screaming from her eyes and her mouth set in a firm line as she slowly and minutely moved her head side to side in an attempt to tell him no. At Kakashi's faltering expression he had turned around and saw only Sakura smiling sweetly as always. At that moment dread had settled into the bones of the older shinobi. His student that had blossomed like a flower while the avenger was gone had wilted in a matter of months from the non-too-gentle menstruations of an angry self righteous black heart. From that point forward he put every effort into restoring her listless life to its former shine.

He would surprise her when he knew her shadow was gone. Flowers would brighten her house for his hour long visits. A hug or a smile would bring life to her day. A carefully placed present, a hidden note, a well cooked meal. They were the highlight of her broken years. They helped her forget in ways that even their nighttime visits could not. Each tiny token was a reminder that someone, somewhere out there, thought she was worthwhile. Smiles came easily while the missions and research held Sasuke's attention far from his imperfect wife. It was not until he returned home that Kakashi would find her door locked to him once more and her screams would haunt the streets.

Most nights he would wait for her here in this broken down memory of a home. If the night remained still and silent he would return home, glad for her relief and sorry for his need to see her. When her luck had run out he would quietly berate himself for his quickening pulse and his growing anticipation that they would meet again. Once she stumbled through the door all thought would leave him and he would simply act.

They never bothered with words or apologies. They never pretended they were there to try to heal her scars. She was there to feel and he was there to feel her.

Lips would meet and hands would roam. Skin so insensitive to her husband's abuse would become alive at the gentle fingers racing across each soft inch of her. Hair would tangle around her ring and legs would clasp around his waist like she would die without him to anchor her down. She was not entirely sure she would not. Gasps and moans murmured sweetly through a sky that sighed at the change of tone. Stars and trees were the only witness to their passion. Pleasured whisperings would kiss their way into each others memories to be brought to light only in the most desperate of times. In the hush of their love the Uchiha corner of the world would suddenly brighten and breath in it's relief to see a semblance of happiness so long forgotten by its blood soaked pavement. A home that had once felt only the regret of a death riddled clan became the sole place of warmth in the entire estate. Once the feeling and claiming was over they would lay in satiated calm until the moon hesitantly receded into the lightened horizon and she was forced to run away home. Sasuke had never question why his wife that had lay in bed so much later than him was always showering when he awoke, or how her bruises and cuts had so quickly disintegrated with the rising of the sun.

Only Sakura knew.


End file.
